A look into the Community Blueprint Summit for Change by Barbara Van Dahlen

Posted June 19, 2012

This week I will gather along with 5,000 service leaders from across the country in Chicago, Illinois for the National Conference on Volunteering and Service, convened by the Points of Light. As part of this Conference, Points of Light and Community Blueprint Network is hosting a two-day session, June 17 – 18, for individuals interested in implementing community-based solutions to challenges facing service members, veterans and military families.

As a proud member of the Community Blueprint Advisory Council I am so pleased to see this initiative receive so much attention and support. Give an Hour and many other organizations have contributed significantly to the shaping and development of the Community Blueprint Network, a full service action planning network that drives collaboration, innovation, best practice sharing and more efficient delivery of services. It provides a roadmap for taking action, providing a wide range of tools and ideas that anyone can use to ensure our service members, veterans and their families know that we’ve got their backs. Several communities across the country are now participating in this effort – with more planned to follow.

The Community Blueprint Summit for Change offers the unique opportunity to witness the culmination of the time and effort that many great organizations and partners have invested in this important initiative. More importantly, the Summit promises to be a valuable learning experience for those interested in community based solutions that leverage veterans and their families as community assets.

The Community Blueprint Summit for Change will inspire and equip attendees to:

• Engage service members, veterans and their families as civic assets

• Return home ready to create opportunities for the military and civilian communities to join together in one common goal: to provide the right resources to our service members, veterans and their families at the right time

• Implement proven and effective community based solutions

• Challenge and recruit others to join forces and take action

I am thrilled to be speaking at this Summit along with many other special guests like Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, Gen. George W. Casey, Founder of craigconnects.org and craigslist Craig Newmark, Purple Heart recipient, Author and Actor Bryan Anderson, and many more.

I know the value and importance of the Community Blueprint to our service members, veterans and military families and I am convinced that by the end of the Summit for Change, so will hundreds of others.